Leverkusen to reunite Bender twins

Watzke added: "We would have liked to see Sven Bender still in our team. On the other hand, he is a player who, like a few others with great achievements, has given a lot of himself to BVB. "These merits naturally require us to listen more closely and respect his personal desire."

Leverkusen begin their domestic season with a trip to Karlsruhe in the DFB-Pokal before opening the Bundesliga campaign away to reigning champions Bayern Munich. Bender's first reunion with Dortmund will come in December when Peter Bosz's side travel to the BayArena.